Oh summer

Almost halfway through July? That doesn't seem possible. Oh summer, you're going by so fast. Jordan and I will be at our new place in two weeks. Crazy! I'm really excited, but dreading the moving process. I hate packing boxes. I should start soon, but I don't wanna. It's so tedious. I always pack something that I end up needing before we get unpacked, and then I can't find it. And moving is going to be more difficult than it was in past years, now that we have couches and such. But my parents will be coming up to help, so I'm sure we'll manage. We'll be happily settled into our new place before we know it. :)

I have yet to learn cashiering at work. I wasn't able to on Wednesday because I had to cover Food Avenue. The guy scheduled for that night came in with a cold, so they had to put him elsewhere. I hope I can learn it soon so I can pick up more hours! Although I've had thirty this week and thirty next week, the week after that I only have sixteen. Blah. But I am learning Food Avenue really well...I closed by myself for the third time tonight, and I think I have it down. My supervisor and all the upper management people give me nonstop compliments on how fast I'm learning everything and what a great job I'm doing...

Mmm, I'm thinking it's time to zone out listening to music and filling out a survey.

Has anyone ever told you that you looked like a celebrity? Not really. Jordan has said I look like Keira Knightley when I made certain faces. Pretty sure he's crazy.
When was the last time you got something done to your hair? I can't remember. I think it was February...I should probably get a trim one of these days.
Do you have any change on you right now? No--no pockets.
What color is the pillowcase(s) on your bed? Blue.
Do you have a favorite day of the week? Not really. Whatever my days off are.
Cutting your hair extremely short, would you do it? If it was a style that looked good on me, yes. I'm not that attached to my hair.
Have you ever been in an art show? No.
Would you considered yourself to be well-exposed to life or sheltered? Somewhere in the middle.
How high is your pain tolerance? I think it's pretty average.
If you're in a relationship, how long have you been dating? Jordan and I have been together for four years, married for almost one year. <3
Have you ever played the game Halo? No.
Are you wearing any jewelry at the moment? Yeah, just my rings.
Is there a sport that you love to play? No.
Have you ever had to learn lines for a play/skit/movie? Yeah, many times.
Do you like your nose? No.
Is there a hair color you prefer on the opposite sex? Not really. When I was younger, I always thought I would marry a brunette, though.
Kissing someone with facial hair, do you mind? I've never kissed anyone with anything more than stubble on their face...but I don't think I would mind.
Would you ever like to be a stunt person? Nah.
Are you a pyromaniac? Not really, though I love candles, campfires, bonfires etc.
How soon is your birthday? Four months.
Are you one of those people who listen to songs on repeat? Sometimes, when I first hear a song and I really love it.
Can any of your friends sing very well? Yes.
Would you ever enter any kind of pageant? No.
Do you have piano fingers? I've been told so, yes. I wish they were a bit longer, though.
What is your preferred curse word? Depends on the situation. I think I say damn it the most, though.
When someone's drunk, the truth comes spilling out, correct? I've heard so, but not in my experience. But I'm not often drunk or surrounded by drunk people.
Have you ever slept on a beach? Not that I can recall.
Would you like to be taller? Maybe a couple inches.
Are you a fan of piercings on the opposite sex? Not particularly. Nothing more than an ear piercing.
Have you ever listened to Celtic music? Yeah.
Who did you dance with last? Jordan.
When holding hands, do you intertwine fingers? Yeah.
Do you have an old pair of pyjamas that you just can't throw away? No.
Is there a movie that makes you cry every single time you watch it? There's a few that consistently give me that lump in my throat...but I rarely actually cry when I watch movies.
Do you ever talk to the TV? Not really.
What's your opinion on Johnny Depp? I think he's very talented. And cute.
Can you speak in different accents? Yeah.
If you write, isn't writer's block the most horrible thing? Yeah, it sucks.
Can you sew or knit? I have sewn in the past--made a few skirts and some pj pants in junior high. I don't know how well I would do with a sewing machine now, though.
Do you have a favorite pair of jeans? Yeah.
What size shirt do you normally wear? It depends on the style. Small or medium.
Are you good with money? Not really...but I wouldn't say I'm bad with it, either.
Has anyone ever aimed a gun at you? No.
Do you think it's possible for a person to be fearless? Seems highly unlikely.
What is the first letter of the person's name you last kissed? J.
Have you ever written a song? Yeah. I wrote a lot of them in high school.
Do you believe there is life on other planets? I don't think so, but I think it's possible. Maybe in another galaxy.
If you think about the universe long enough, it's baffling isn't it? Of course.
Would you consider yourself to be poor, middle class, or rich? My family is middle class. Jordan and I are poor.
Do you have any sort of debt? Yeah, from college. No credit card debt, though, thankfully.
Have you spoken to the person you love today? Yes, though not much. It was one of those unfortunate days where we only saw each other for five minutes because of our work schedules.
Would you ever travel to Los Angeles? It's not a dream of mine or anything, but I wouldn't mind.
Have you ever been through a natural disaster? The flood of 2008. It didn't have a direct impact on my life, though.
Have you ever been on a train? Yes. 24-hour ride to Arizona. I enjoyed it.
Is there a memory that embarrasses you to think about? Yeah...I have plenty.
Where exactly are you right now? My room.
Is there a guy you can talk to about anything? Yes. That's one of the many reasons that I married him.
Have you ever been in a parade? Yeah.
Would you ever consider being a news reporter? Meh. I don't think so.
Do people say you look your age? Or younger or older? Generally a couple years younger.
Have you ever sent a celebrity fan mail? No.
Are you ashamed of how you acted when you were younger? Nah.
Do you ever have those days where you feel you're the ugliest person ever? Yeah.
Have you ever been in a musical? Yeah.
When was the last time you swam in a pool? Last month, when Katie came to visit.
How do you know someone is your best friend? For me, feeling at ease and like I can be myself around them.
When was the last time you used a highlighter? Finals week.
Has a flashlight ever ran out batteries on you in the dark? Yeah, I think so.

Tanzanian Peaberry

New type of coffee I'm trying, from Archer Farms (Target's brand). The beans are really cute--small and round, like peas...hence the name, maybe? It's pretty tasty.

So, the new job is going pretty well. I'm officially done with training as far as Food Avenue goes, and I'm learning cashier today. I'm not too excited that the shift is 3-11, but I'm looking forward to learning cashiering--it will be so easy compared to Food Avenue! To put it into perspective, Food Avenue took four days, ie around 30 hours, of training; cashiering takes about an hour of training. I do like Food Avenue a lot--I like the multitasking involved, and having a whole section to myself. As predicted, it reminds me so much of Great American Cookies. What sucks is all the cleaning that needs to be done, particularly at closing. Opening doesn't have much cleaning--it's mostly turning things on and prepping food. But closing is ridiculous. We have a two page list of things that need to be cleaned and we're supposed to start at 5 PM and finish at 9:30. Easy enough if business slows down as the evening progresses--not so easy if it's, say, 4th of July weekend and you're super busy up until 8:00. And since I JUST finished training, I'm slow at everything. So instead of finishing by 9:30, I finish after 10:00. But I'm sure I'll get the hang of it over the next couple weeks.

And good news--my parents are giving us a car! Matt's old sable that he drove in high school. My Dad put a new battery in it the other day, and it started up just fine (after two years of sitting in our back driveway). He said that he just needs to get the alignment fixed, and then it should be fine for us to drive in town. Having two cars will open up job possibilities, for sure--Jordan will be able to work something other than third shift, if he wants.

Sadly, I have done very little writing since I started my job. I wasn't expecting to work 35 hours my first week...and the eight hours shifts took some adjusting. For the first couple days, I actually kind of missed the four hour shifts of Applebees. And on top of that, I've had various other things going on. Cookouts with both Jordan's family and mine, wedding stuff with Carissa. I've been exhausted! Writing just hasn't been on my mind...except for yesterday, when it dawned on me that I haven't written anything in a week (with the exception of journaling). I remembered something that one of my writing TAs and the U of I said about writing everyday--when you make writing a daily habit, that's when you've become serious about it...and that's when you really start to make progress. So I'm going to try to write everyday from now on, if at all possible. I should probably buy myself a cute journal to write in, as incentive.

Mmk...time to finish up the laundry.

The last two days have been rather interesting.

I slept for about fourteen hours yesterday, thanks to a crappy fever. It's been years since I've had one...I forgot how much they suck! It wasn't anything serious--peaked at 100.8--but that's still kinda high for me since my usual temperature is a couple degrees lower than the average 98.6. I laid in bed all day long...then Jordan took me to work with him (he was worried to leave me home by myself) and I slept on and off all night. My temperature finally started to go down at midnight and I was back to normal by 6:00 this morning. Feeling a little queasy and headache-y today, but mostly okay. No clue what caused all this, but hopefully it's out of my system.

Today was much more fun. Mom came up to Iowa City--we had lunch at Olive Garden and spent a few hours downtown, window shopping at all the fancy stores. I did splurge a little on a box of dessert teas--coco truffle, belgian mint, raspberry nectar, orchid vanilla, vienna cinnamon, and white ambrosia--very excited to try them. Then we had coffee at Prairie Lights Java House and went to PetLand to look at all the cute puppies. We didn't play with any of them...Mom said she would want to buy one if we did.

My Target orientation is tomorrow night. According to random google searches, it will be several hours long, full of training videos and paperwork. /sigh. I also read that I should start working right away and I'll get my schedule for the next two weeks...so I'm hoping that they happened to not schedule me for next Monday night--I realllly want to be able to go to Carissa's dress appointment. I'm actually kind of excited to start working. Even though I'll have to wear a gross hairnet, I think I'll like working at Food Avenue. I imagine that it will be very similar to my job at Great American Cookies--food prep and selling, some cleaning--I'll just be dealing with snack food instead of baked goods. Anyway...off to make supper.

This is nice.

I love having a clean apartment. It's being shown to potential tenants today, so we cleaned it last night. I hope we can keep it this way so we don't have too much to do when we move out next month...can't believe it's only four weeks away! I'm so excited to move into our new place. I just hope everything fits! The bedroom, living room, and closets are all really big...it's the teeny kitchen I'm worried about. There's barely any counter space. Where will all our small appliances go? I'll have to get creative with storage, I guess. Also, we're still trying to decide how we're going to handle Crosby's potty issues. He pees on the floor so much at my parents' house now...we're really hoping that will stop that once he's able to be with people all the time, rather than left alone in the basement. We're going to walk him outside as much as we can, but nights might be an issue. Mostly because I'm a baby and I refuse to go out in the dark to walk my dog when my husband isn't home. I think doggy diapers for nighttime might be a good idea, if we can keep Crosby from trying to chew them off. We might try puppy pads, too, but I'm worried about his aim (it's much easier for puppies that don't lift their legs, obviously) and I don't want the apartment to smell like dog pee. I don't know. We'll find something that works. I'm sure it'll take some trial and error (and a lot of pet stain remover)...but having Crosby again is worth it.


Is it raining where you live? Yeah. And thundering.
Who is the last person to yell at you? I don't remember.
Do you own a porsche? No.
Do you have an iPod touch? That's the fancy one, right? No. I have a nano.
Do you know anyone who has been struck by lightning? No.
Do you swear a lot? If I'm hot, yeah.
What kind of things do you do in the summer? Read and write, spend time with my family. Go to the park, go swimming, go camping. Sleep in late.
What did you do last weekend? I went to Burlington for Father's Day.
Do you have a lot of parties at your house? No.
How far is the closest beach? Not sure.
Do a lot of people know who you are? Mm, don't think so.
What color are your toes painted? Pink.
Name some things you like about yourself. I'm patient, compassionate, creative.
Do you like your name? Yeah. I probably wouldn't have picked it for myself but I've been told it suits me.
Why did you cry last? Missing Kobie.
Is anyone in your family bi-polar? No.
How often do you see your best friend? I see one of them pretty regularly--every week or so...the other one, not so much.
Would you rather be friends with guys or girls? I don't really care. I've had great friendships with both. It depends on the person.
Do you eat out a lot? No...trying to cut back. At least until I have an income.
Have you ever ridden an electric scooter? I don't think so.
Who wouldn't you mind seeing in concert? I dunno. Any of my favorite artists, I guess. I'm not a huge fan of concerts. I love live music, but all the concerts I've been to have been too crowded and too loud...not my thing.
Are there any commercials that you actually like? Yeah, but I can't think of any at the moment.
What kind of hair would you like to have? Thicker hair...I hate having thinnish hair. Or maybe curly...I'm always jealous of people with naturally curly hair.
Do you hunt? No and I never plan to.

Oooh!

I'm liking these new template options, blogger! Very cute! There was actually more than one or two designs that I wanted to pick. :)

So...Target offered me a job--as a food service worker (ie working at Food Avenue). They couldn't hire me as a cashier because of our one car situation. Apparently, the fact that the store closes at 10:00 means nothing--they told me that their cashiers usually don't get out of there until near 11:00...sometimes 11:30! And I had to tell them that there's no way I can stay that late on nights when Jordan works. As it turns out, Friday and Saturday nights (two of the nights Jordan always works, without question) are what they really need covered. So yeah...no cashiering for me. But they offered me a job at Food Avenue because it closes earlier than the rest of the store (8 or 9, I can't remember which). And I took it. I know, I am insanely overqualified for such a job...but I need a freaking income! And for some reason, no one at the higher paying places where I applied wanted to hire me. So whatever.

I still think I might hear from the pharmacy in the next few days...the guy was slow to call me after I turned in the application, so it makes sense that he would be just as slow to offer me a job. If I am offered a job there, I think I might have to take it and tell Target I changed my mind...because it pays fifty cents more an hour. It wouldn't be too horrible of me to do that because my orientation at Target isn't until the 29th. Not much harm in backing out before orientation, right? But even if the pharmacy doesn't hire me, that's fine. At least I'm employed somewhere.

Oh. Now what?

Well, now I have TWO interviews. One at Target on Friday and one at Hartig Drug on Saturday. Eek. I'm less nervous about the Target interview now that it's not my only chance to be employed in the very immediate future. But what if it goes surprisingly well and they offer me a job right after the interview? They did this to Jordan when he applied. I'll accept it, of course, because there's no guarantee that Hartig Drug will offer me a job...but then do I still go to the other interview so I can see if they would pay me more/give me more hours (and then tell Target I changed my mind if they will)? Or just cancel the other interview? Since I don't know what either job will pay yet, I'm not sure where I'd rather work. They're both cashier positions. Hartig Drug has much better hours (they close at 9:00 Monday through Saturday and at 5:00 on Sunday--how great is that?)...but Target is so much closer to our new apartment. I dunno. I guess I'll just have to play it by ear. Either way...I'm at least confident that I'll be employed relatively soon...somewhere. All the more reason for me to enjoy another lazy day while I still can!


So, do you believe in any conspiracy theories? Nah.
Do you prefer actual books or those weird devices like the Kindle? Actual books. Although a Kindle would have been awesome during college because it was a pain toting around half a dozen books in my purse.
Is there a certain social networking site you just can't stay away from? Guilty...I get on facebook about a million times a day.
Do you prefer female or male vocalists? Either way. My favorites are a mixture of both.
How do you feel about the oil spill in the Gulf? It makes me really sad. It's one of those things that makes you stop and think that we are straight up killing our planet.
Around what time do you start feeling tired enough to go to sleep? Lately, like 5 a.m. That's gonna have to change soon...
What trends do you refuse to give in to?
What types of perfume/cologne do you like on your preferred sex? I'm not picky. Jordan never wears cologne, but his Axe deodorant smells good.
What subjects in history interest you most? Women, writers and musicians in past centuries. Basically, people that I can identify with.
When was the last time you went bowling? Ooh man, I don't know. Not since I lived in Burlington.
Are you superstitious in any way? Nah.
How do you get rid of anxiety? Playing my keyboard, journaling, talking it out with Jordan, playing WoW.
Do you find it easy to express your feelings to someone? Depends on who they are. And what my feelings are.
^How about when you really, really care for that person? When it comes to people I care for, I can usually express myself quite well.
Are there any items of jewelry you never/rarely take off? Engagement and wedding rings.
Has a song ever made you cry before? Yeah.
^If so, what about it brought you to tears? If I'm in a situation where I can identify with the song...or if it's just really moving.
Are you a more of a homebody, or someone who's always out with friends? Homebody!
What's the title of the book nearest to you? Persuasion.
Do you tend to make a lot of sacrifices in the name of love or friendship? Mm, not a lot. But I have made some, definitely.
Are you materialistic? Not terribly.
Would you consider yourself open-minded? Yeah.
Is there anything in your life right now that needs fixing? Hmm...not really. Some aspects I'm not happy with, like the current living and job situation, but those will be better soon.
Are you old fashioned in any way? Yeah.
Do you find yourself correcting people's grammar often? Only in my head--with the exception of my husband, I never correct people's grammar in everyday situations. It seems rude to me.
When was the last time someone gave you a massage? It's probably been a month or two.
Reese's ice cream: Yay or nay? Yay. :)
Would you say that the simple things in life make you happy? Yes.
Aren't cinnamon rolls downright heavenly? Yes!
When was the last time you were in an amazingly awesome mood? Probably when I was in Orange City. I was having a great time with my family and that was also when I found out that I got a 4.0 for my last semester.
Do you come up with your own words or sayings often? Not really.
Have you ever been on Fmylife.com? I think so...or a very similar site.
Which holiday do you dislike most? I don't know. Maybe Halloween because I don't really get into the whole costume thing...but the candy part is pretty fantastic.
Were you ever into that gel bracelet craze? I had to google that to figure out that you meant those bendy bracelets everyone used to wear. I remember that Tony gave me one when he and I dated (for a whole three weeks)...but other than that, not really. They didn't fit me anyway. Non-adjustable bracelets suck for the tiny-wrist-ed.
Do you have any scars on the palms of your hands? No.
What's the first thing you think of when I say 'pearl necklace'? My pearl necklace, lol. And how I want a legit one with more than one pearl.
How do you handle stress? Sometimes I handle it quite well...but I have been known to get very flustered under stress, too.
Have you ever had jury duty? No.
Gummi worms: Yay or nay? If they're sour, yay.
What do you do when you have 'me time'? If Jordan is home and on the computer, I go play the keyboard or hang out in the living room. If he's at work or asleep, like he is now, I just put on some headphones and listen to music.
What's your opinion on Weird Al Yankovic? I remember being pretty entertained by his parody songs in high school...but other than that, I don't have much of an opinion.
Have you ever met someone online that you wanted to meet in real life? Yeah.
Is there something you need to get off your chest at the moment? Not really.
What would be a clever name for a giraffe? I dunno. I like alliteration, so Ginger or Georgia or something like that for a girl. Maybe Geoff for a boy?
Do you always mean it when you say 'I love you'? Yeah.
When was the last time you got your car washed? I haven't washed it myself in like four years. My Dad washed it for me sometime last year...other than that, I let the rain wash it.
Do you tan easily? I burn easily, but then it turns into a tan.
When was the last time you entertained yourself with shadow puppets? It's been a long time...but I used to have this amazing shadow puppet book that showed you how to make all kinds; it also had pages that turned into shadow puppets.

Finally...

Well of the million (okay, more like ten) places that I've applied in the past couple weeks, someone FINALLY wants to interview me. Target. The interview is this Friday and I'm super nervous. It's kind of ridiculous because anyone can be a cashier...but their interviews are ridiculous. I remember--I applied at Target when I was sixteen. They ask a lot of behavioral questions that pertain to past jobs--"tell me about a time when your boss was wrong and you had to confront them" "tell me about a time when you had to be a team player" "describe a situation where you made a mistake" and so on. For a long time. I remember thinking that it took FOREVER. And because I had never had a job before, most of the questions were impossible for me to answer. It sucked! Jordan, as a past Target employee, confirmed the ridiculousness of their interviews. So I'm spending the next couple days madly thinking of all kinds of scenarios and situations I've been through at my past jobs. If I don't get this job, I will be very upset. Jordan's not very happy that I'm applying at Target and Caribou Coffee and so on when I have a college degree...but I try not to let it bother me. Right now, we just need me to have an income.

In the meantime, I'm working on a few stories that I hope to use for my MFA program applications. And trying to decide which past professors to pester with emails, begging them for letters of recommendation. I need three of them, at least for the Writer's Workshop. I've looked at a handful of other MFA creative writing programs in the midwest (because I don't want to move far away), but not in great detail. Probably because my heart is so set on the Writer's Workshop. Iowa State has a program, but I'm not too interested because they require the GRE...yuck. I DO NOT want to take that...a lot of MFA programs will happily look at your scores, but they don't require it.

Anyway...I still haven't decided if I'm going to apply to any programs this fall/winter, or if I want to wait another year. My writing TAs all urged me to take at least two years off, ha. That sounds lovely--I want to take as much time as I need to make my writing portfolio as perfect as possible. The idea of being done with it in just six months is kind of scary. But I keep thinking about babies. We've been talking about starting to try in the next couple years, but that's not very realistic if I want to go back to school in two years. Oh well. We'll figure it out.